Police Search For Clues In Strangling Of Young Woman In Juniata

Related Tags:

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The two story home in Juniata was where friends say Allison Edwards, 22, was trying to straighten out her life.

“She was doing all right,” said Jene, who did not want to use his last name. Jene said Edwards (photo) was staying in a recovery house for about six months, trying to kick a drug addiction, until she stopped showing up to meetings in the last few weeks.

Friday night, police said they found Edwards’ body partially clad in a home on Glendale Street. Police also found drug paraphernalia in the house. At first, they said it looked like Edwards died of a drug overdose, but the autopsy report told a different story.

Allison Edwards had been strangled.

The circumstances of her death are very similar to two other recent killings in the area. On November 3, police found the half-naked body of Elaine Goldberg, 21, in a lot on Ruth Street. She was a recovering addict, and she had been strangled. Her father pleaded for help.

“This guy is out there,” said Joseph Goldberg, “and he’s going to do it again.”

Then on November 13, police found the body of Nicole Piacentini, 35, half-naked behind an abandoned building on Cumberland Street. She too had been strangled.

Police released a composite sketch after the attacks of a black or Hispanic male in his 20s or 30s. Police have not said if all three cases are related, but they are very similar and very scary for a neighborhood looking for an answer.

Eyewitness News has learned police questioned two people in the most recent attack, but there has been no information of an arrest or charges filed.